Bioenergy: Food security proves a worry

Financial Times

December 1, 2011

By Sarah Wild

In an article about the challenges of implementing biofuels production in South Africa, Professor Lee Lynd comments on the fear of fuel crops replacing food: "There is a reluctance to invest capital because companies don't want to be on the wrong side of humanitarian interests," says Lee Lynd, a biofuels expert and professor of engineering at Dartmouth in the US. "The last thing they want to do is come in and be shredded in the newspapers for taking food out of people's mouths," he adds.

Andrew Makenete, president of the South African Bioenergy Association, also adds his comment: "I've yet to hear a logical argument about how [biofuel production] creates food insecurity. There is no physical evidence in South Africa," he says.